Pratt & Whitney Outlines Changes To F-35 Engine Upgrade Path

14 June 2018Aviation International News reports that Pratt & Whitney (P&W) has changed its “proposed upgrade path for the F135 engine powering the F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter,” and now offers two stages of “improvements over a four-year period, compared with the three-stage, 10-year plan ending with a completely new engine that it revealed a year ago.” The stages are called Growth Option 1.0 and 2.0 and “include greater thrust, lower fuel burn, and better thermal management.” P&W Military Engines President Matthew Bromberg added this week that P&W has combined its “Growth 1A” thrust-increase option for the F-35B within Growth Option 1.0. The 1.0 package “offers 10 percent more thrust than the F135’s current nominal 40,000 pounds, and 5 percent better fuel burn.” P&W is also working with Rolls-Royce to “provide a 5 percent increase in vertical thrust” while hovering. Bromberg explained that Growth Option 2.0 could provide the F-35 with “a significant increase in power and thermal management capability” within four years without requiring an all-new engine design. P&W is offering the new “optional package as a result of the perceived need for an improved power and thermal management system (PTMS) to accompany the upgrades to the F-35 that Lockheed Martin is proposing.” Lockheed Martin sees the upgrades as part of its “continuous capability development and delivery (C2D2) strategy.” (Image Credit: U.S. Navy | Wikimedia Commons)More Info (Aviation International News)